Ok, here it is, my top 10 of ’08. I have to confess, I think music this year has been more geared toward individual singles than full length albums. There’s been a handfull of absolutely amazing singles that were put out in ’08, some of which are included in my top 10 albums (TV On the Radio – DLZ, MGMT – Kids, Santogold – Lights Out for example).

Anyway, there were definitely some great records, and others that almost made my list but I had to leave out… I mean, I only get 10 here. So enjoy.

TV on the Radio – Dear Science, – Hands down my favorite of the year, this record has not left the top spot in my music rotation. I was an instant fan of TVOTR after first hearing their first big single, Wolf Like Me from their 2006 album Return From Cookie Mountain, and was further drawn when I went back and listened to the songs Staring at the Sun and New Health Rock. What sucked me in was the contrast of melody + hooks on top of artsy/dance beats and white noise… the only problem, in my opinion, was not enough hooks to fill the white noise. On Dear Science, TVOTR replaced the overused with fantastic instrumentation and hooks for days. Every song can stand on it’s own as a single, yet the album definitely has a flow and cohesiveness between songs. The second-to-last track, DLZ might be my pick for single of the year. Brilliant fucking record… and a kickass live show as well.

Minus the Bear – They Make Beer Commercials Like This – Ok, this one might not count… it’s an EP… and it’s also a re-issue of an EP with an extra song, bringing to total to 7 tracks. I just had to put it here because, in my opinion, it’s THAT good. It’s great to see a band use an EP the right way and not overdo it. These songs are simple as far as structure goes, but there are some great hooks and the musicianship (especially David Knudson’s guitar playing) is damn good. With song titles like I’m Not Totally Down With Rob’s Alien and Houston, We Have Uh-Oh, Minus the Bear keep the tone light, but fluctuate the mood drastically throughout. I have to say, this is the only EP I’ve ever listened to 3 times in a row before noticing it was on repeat. (NOTE: The video below is audio from the original album, so the audio is REALLY rough)

Radiohead – In Rainbows – What can I say? Great record and an amazing new concept for distributing music. I’m not a big Radiohead fan by any means, but Reckoner, All I Need, and Jigsaw Falling Into Place are great songs.

Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago – Really fucking good song writing, AMAZING hooks, and a very original voice that is extremely expressive and emotional, but not over the top. The first time I heard Skinny Love, I was pretty shocked how good of a song it was, and had it stuck in my head for two days straight. After hearing the entire album, I am shocked at how good it is as a whole… minus a couple of iffy tracks, every song is a single.

Colour Revolt – Plunder, Beg and Curse – I absolutely loved their self titled EP from 2006. The songs Mattresses Under Water and A New Family are pretty haunting songs. So I expected their first full length to be an extension of the self titled. It wasn’t even close, but in a VERY VERY good way. Not a single song from the EP made it on Plunder, Beg, and Curse. Instead, it’s a very raw record that has a Southern-Rock backbone mixed with THICK layered guitars, big bass lines, and uniquely dynamic vocals with LOTS of harmonies that support the complicated themes on the record.

MGMT – Oracular Spectacular – Undeniably catchy songs, almost all singles on this album. Kids and Time to Pretend are about as anthemic as it gets.

Santogold – Santogold – A lot like the MGMT record… nothing but singles. I think I’ve heard at least half of these songs on commercials already.

Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes – I think just about everyone agrees that the debut from Fleet Foxes should be somewhere in the top 10. It is an undeniably great record, but I put it down at number 8 for one reason: it gets a little repetitive. I kind of have to be in a certain mood to listen to it, which isn’t a horrible thing.

My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges – The exact opposite problem of the Fleet Foxes album, Evil Urges might be a little too dynamic. It’s a great record, no doubt, with songs ranging from traditional MMJ rock-jam style, to Beegee’s style dance tunes , to the Prince style vocals on the title track… but it lacks a little bit of cohesiveness between songs. Still an amazing record.

White Denim – Exposion – I just recently started listening to this album about a month ago and haven’t been able to put it down. Really raw sound at times, very subtle instrumentation on some tracks as well. It’s crazy to think the record is this good and it’s their first full length. The only reason I put it at 10 is that I just started listening to it.

I don’t claim this is any sort of definitive best of 2008. There are many albums I want to buy that I haven’t yet, and I’ve got a small stack of albums I have bought that I haven’t absorbed yet. This is the best of what I’ve heard from 2008 so far. My picks here will shock absolutely no one who is a regular reader of this site.

I don’t think 2008 was a very good year for music. Since I started reviewing albums for this site in June, I’ve rated exactly one album four stars out of five (Mudcrutch) and none higher. Let’s hope 2009 is a better year, and that there are some 2008 treats that I will soon discover that will change my opinion of this year.

Except for Mudcrutch, albums are in no particular order. Links are to my original review.

How square is it to have a Tom Petty album at the top of a best-of list? Well, that’s how it is. You youngster musicians out there are just going to have to work harder if you want to convince me to be hip.

Is it fair to list a bunch of demos recorded between 1997 and 2000 as one of the best of 2008? Why not? Do you think that album that came out in January was recorded in 2008? This just took a little longer to get released.

Essentially a lost album from a band I adore, and randomly stumbling across it at the record store was my happiest musical surprise this year.

Austin legend does it again. “Sister Lost Soul” is another contender for song of the year. I’d embed it, but the copyright police have yanked it. Can’t have you hearing it! It might make you want to buy the album or something. Nope, can’t have that.

Bitch Session Continues: Here’s a decent live version, but not being able to share the studio version with you really sticks in my craw. It takes a special kind of genius to think that making it impossible for people to hear a not-very-famous musician is the best method of convincing people to plunk their hard-earned money down for an album by said musician.

I thought this well-reviewed album would get more attention. Maybe that’s why I write on a blog for free instead of having a career as a hot-shot A&R guy (A&R job offers welcome). Here’s “You Cheated Me.” Video mildly not safe for work.

A rough patch on the second half stops Little Honey from making my best-of list (although it’s still worth your time), but this song is a thing of beauty.

As for this year in pop…

“Bad Influence” by Pink

After the stunning I’m Not Dead, Funhouse was a letdown. It wouldn’t be a Pink album, even a mediocre one, without some killer tracks, though, and there are some here. “So What” is the big single, and I like it a lot, but “Bad Influence” is the one that gets stuck in my head for days on end.

Wind me up and watch me go!

“Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis

There wasn’t any glorious, guilty-pleasure radio pop in 2008 as awe-inspiring as last year’s “Umbrella” by Rihanna, so far as I know. This one from a Simon Cowell discovery comes closest.

So that’s it for this year! I’ve really enjoyed our first year of (mostly) music-blogging. Special thanks to my co-bloggers for always coming up with fascinating posts. It’s pretty cool to look forward every day to seeing what’s new at your own blog. I think this would be my favorite music blog even if I didn’t write for it.

I was a tad obsessive about Rocket From the Crypt when they were around, so I was utterly thrilled when I stumbled across All Systems Go, Vol. 3 at the record store. It appears to have been released without any fanfare, which is too bad as I imagine there are a lot of fans who don’t realize this is out there.

For those not familiar, San Diego’s Rocket From the Crypt were the garage band nonpareil for about a decade beginning in 1991. Led by singer/guitarist John Reis (Speedo to fans), their sound was like an amplified version of the raunchiest Nuggets-type stuff, sort of like the Sonics with a horn section, broadcast through a football stadium PA system. And boy, did they tear it up live.

For awhile there, they cranked out new material at an astonishing rate. They had seven studio albums in their eleven recording years, some EPs, and an ungodly number of non-LP singles, compilation tracks, B-sides, and other stuff. Much of the non-LP material is collected on the packed-to-the-gills All Systems Go, volumes 1 and 2, and there is enough out there for another couple of volumes.

I was expecting All Systems Go, Vol. 3 to round up another bunch of stray tracks, but it doesn’t. Subtitled The Lost Masters, 1997-2000, it’s instead a bunch of demos that mostly were never released. Upon realizing that I had just paid money for unreleased demos, I was prepared to spin it once, bitch a bit to the one or two people I know who love this band, and file it away for the sake of completeness because that’s what record geeks do instead of selling off junk.

Wrong-o. ASG3 packs a wallop. The songs don’t sound demo quality, or, to be more accurate, they sound no more demo quality than most of the band’s proper albums. There are hooks galore, and furious guitars and horns that will pummel you until you say “uncle.”

RFTC album-buyers will only be familiar with “When in Rome (Do the Jerk)” and “Dick on a Dog” from the slickly-produced (not an insult) RFTC album, presented here in rawer form. That might not have worked for a lot of the material on that album, but it’s great for these two tracks. Fans who have delved deeper may be familiar with a couple of other songs, “Chariots on Fire” and “This Way Out.” I’m pretty sure the other sixteen tracks will be completely new to anyone who is not a personal friend of Speedo’s.

This batch of demos actually holds together as an album, and a pretty darn good one. In fact, ASG3 is much better than RFTC’s final studio album, Live From Camp X-Ray, their only dud and a disappointing ending to a stellar career. Knowing they were cutting much of this material around the same time makes me wonder, what the hell were they thinking?

Well, who cares what they were thinking? I’ve got the stuff now. You should get it, too.

Our friend Steve Greenberg was working with Hanson, who were making a Christmas album. I gave a demo of this song to him to pass along. They didn’t use it, so we recorded it ourselves on a day off in Liverpool. I am surprised they even let you record novelty Christmas songs like this in Liverpool. Alarmingly, it became our highest charting single in the UK up to that point.

All YouTube has is a fan video with footage of the new Dr. Who show. Don’t let the video distract you, unless you’re into the new Dr. Who.

Now I have “Everybody Knows the Claus” by Hanson stuck in my head, too. I think I’ll save that one for next year. Merry Christmas!